What being Pretty truly means
by Kyouen
Summary: -Extras-The city is changing around Aya, things totally dizzy-making. She'd wanted to be Pretty, but now with the talk of Cutters and lesions, she doesn't know what she wants.Will the changes she's hearing of divide her within herself?Or help her find it?


"Please remain where you are." The authoritative voice came from the dorms wallscreen, followed immediately with a scroll saying various forms of warnings. Aya's eyes snapped open accompanied with a curious expression. The wallscreen remained blue, the white scroll whipping across the front. She caught the gist of what was going on with one simple line: 'Remain indoors. Failure to comply will result in consequences.' Aya glanced around the room, where the lobby was filling up with uglies who had been caught outside with the announcement, all wearing bemused expressions on their faces. There were even a couple pretties, who instead of looking annoyed, as they should have been, had expressions of satisfaction on their faces.

Aya stared at them, caution in her features. A pretty, in her ugly dorm? Sakura Hall was far away from Prettyville...maybe they planned to cause trouble. Aya had heard stories of tricky uglies, who, though turned into pretties, still did tricks, enjoying the adrenaline-making thrill it gave them.

She watched them out of the corner of her eye as she turned to one of her random dorm-mates, a boy with frizzy hair, looking as if he had just rolled out of bed. "What do you think they're," –pointing at the pretties from across the room – "doing?"

He scratched his head as Aya frantically tried to remember his name. Aki? Or maybe it was Haru? _I guess it doesn't really matter…_Aya concluded as he answered, "Tricks?"

Aya sighed, frustrated that he had came up with the same thing she had. She spoke slowly, almost as if she were talking to a small littlie. "What about the announcement?" His blank expression was all the answer she needed. Her annoyance peaked. She could barely stand being an ugly, not while her brother, his friends, and all the other pretties went to bashes across town. Aya could barely wait for the day she turned sixteen, joining them in Prettyville. Trying to control her anger, Aya exhaled slowly. Only four more years. Then she could go to however many bashes she wanted.

"Just stay in the dorm." Aya said dismissively, done with talking to the younger ugly, whose name she didn't remember, and probably never would.

Peeking secretively at the pretties who still remained by the door, she saw their numbers had dwindled, some now even having the audacity to sit near uglies. Aya decided on the ones sitting down.

She joined the group of uglies hovering anxiously over the pretties, their normal lives disrupted so easily. Aya managed not to scoff. They were only bubbleheads after all. Sitting down in an armchair, she was near enough to eavesdrop, but not near enough to look suspicious. Aya put on a blank face, one she knew she gained while checking her pings, and listened.

"How long do you think it will take for it to circulate?" Aya had no idea what _it_ was, but the three pretties seemed to be well informed.

"It depends on how many can be convinced, how many forced…" the long haired girl trailed off waving her hand dismissively. Her words were very nervous-making, but Aya knew what she was listening in on was big. The _big_ something that was going on right now, outside the dorm walls.

"Plus, you have to factor in the days it takes for the cure to affect you." A small pretty with glasses added.

_Cure?_ Aya's ears perked up, and she discreetly moved closer. The small movement attracted the attention of the girl, and Aya quickly made it look as if she was just adjusting her position in the chair, cursing that she had been so obvious.

She actually checked if she had any pings, not listening in for only a moment. Aya also pondered about the pretty boy with glasses. The operation usually made you perfect, never able to have any ailments. Why would one chose to keep glasses, something only uglies really needed?

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the girl turn away, allowing Aya to rejoin their conversation.

"Yeah, it did take a while for Masaki to stop being all bubbly." The other boy looked disgusted as he remembered, rolling his eyes.

Her heart started pounding as she realized that they were talking about pretties, and changing them. _Into what though?_ Aya wanted so badly to ask, the despair-making question burning in her throat, trying to claw its way out. She set her lips resolutely, refusing to let it out in the open.

"However long it takes, we need to make Tally-sama and David-sama proud." Glasses pretty said determinedly as the others nodded their heads sagely.

"Yep, you guys know…" The first boy said slowly, as Aya's heart beat faster in anticipation. _What, what were they talking about? Pretties and a cure? Tally and David-sama? _Aya wanted with her whole being to know more, almost wanting it more than being pretty herself.

"the winds of change are a'blowin." He turned and smirked directly at Aya, and her heart almost stopped. _Had they known the whole time I was listening?_ She wondered frantically, gazing wide-eyed back.

"I think we've done enough here," Glasses pretty said, his voice quiet. "We should sneak back."

Even though Aya had been caught eavesdropping, she still wanted to warn them, _No! Wait! What about the wardens? The consequences? _But she held her tongue, instead using the distraction to slip into her room.

Inside the safety of her room, Aya pondered the boy's words. '_The winds of change are a'blowin?'_ The Japanese had sounded choppy, almost as if it had been translated from a strange language? _English? _Aya thought that may be what it was called, maybe she would ping Hiro about it. Her frustration grew, until she burst out, "What does it mean?"

"What does _what_ mean? I believe it is the start of a question…" her room said, believing itself to be clever.

"Room." Aya glared at the walls, knowing it didn't do any good anyway, it didn't know when she was mad. "What's going on?"

"There is a cool breeze outside, your classes start in an hour…"

Aya interrupted again, saying through gritted teeth, "I _mean_ with the _disturbance_." She would have to remember to get her room modified, a personality adjustment the first on her list.

"_I am disinclined to acquiesce your request._" A brisk governmental female voice answered, and Aya blinked.

"E-excuse me?"

"_Unable to answer said request._" Aya blinked again. Her room was _refusing_ to do something she had asked? And what was with the confuse-making voice? Disinclined to _what_? Aya shook her head, trying several more times for a better answer – or at least one that made sense – but all that she gained was a slight head-ache, and jumbled nerves.

Collapsing on her bed, Aya finally decided to ping Hiro.

_**Hiro, can you get back to me soon, please?**_ Aya tried to put enough urgency in her voice without coming off as completely desperate. She felt like she was in a cage, and she took to pacing the span of her room while she waited for Hiro to ping back.

It seemed like ages had passed by the time she heard the answering ping.

_**What's the matter Aya-chan?**_

Aya breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly pinged him back, before he was off to do other pretty things.

_**Do you know what's going on?**_ Her edginess was put into that one ping, and she flopped back onto her bed.

_**No. You?**_

_**They're not telling us anything either, **_she answered back. _**There's just an annoying announcement on the wallscreen. But Hiro, there were some bubbleheads in my dorm…**_remembering too late that he was also one.

_**Wait,**_ he interrupted, alarmed. _**What were pretties doing there? That is totally lame-making! **_

_**It's not like they could go anywhere else! **_Aya defended them, and then added, _**They weren't normal though…**_ she thoughtfully tried to think of how to describe them. _**Not really bubbly…**_

_**Whatever,**_ Hiro said. Aya knew he was thinking of ending their contact, she knew about the huge bash at Yuko's mansion tonight.

_**Wait Hiro!**_

_**What now?**_ He was becoming cross, annoyed that his little sister was pinging him so much.

_**They were talking about a cure…**_

_**So?**_ Hiro asked. _**They were just some lame pretties. Don't try to be all despair-making Aya-chan. They'll let us out soon.**_ He cut off the connection, almost making Aya scream in anger. How could he be such a bubble-head at a time like this? He may still get to go to bashes, but she only had classes to look forward to, and she didn't want to waste her time stuck in Sakura Hall.

Trying to keep her irritation down, she stood in front of the hole in the wall. After describing a sundress, she patiently waited for it to appear.

Aya gritted her teeth. "T-shirt." Again her waiting didn't pay off. "Hat."

She worked through all coverable parts of her body, finally saying tiredly, "Sock." When even that didn't appear she flung herself on her bed, drama-making threatening to disturb the rooms around hers.

A quiet ping had her hoping that Hiro had changed his mind, but it was only her dorm-minder. _**Classes are cancelled until further notice.**_No explanation followed.

_That's just perfect!_ She thought sarcastically, resisting the urge to send a ping back.

What was she supposed to do now?

_**Totally not bubbly!**_Hiro's ping raged at her – the bash canceled – and Aya smiled grimly. He wasn't the only one thinking that.

The next few days were full of complaints, the dorm-minders doing everything in their power to keep them indoors, and away from each others throats. Aya took to staying indoors, checking the news feeds. They kept saying the same things, to stay indoors, the authorities were keeping it under control, and above all, to not spread rumors.

And rumors were sure spreading.

Pretties continued to sneak into the dorm, and their loud conversations reached even the most oblivious.

Aya heard more about 'Tally' and 'Diego'; even the word 'Cutters' was dropped. They were said to be extremely tall and beautiful, having flashing tattoos on their forehead and arms. They came from far away, as far away as the strange place called Diego. The place where it had all started.

The scary-making thing was the origin of their name. Dark mentions of the deep cuts all over their arms made Aya shiver, their reputation reaching even here, in Japan. They had started a war in Diego, started the new system; which in turn, had created the mess that Aya's city was in now. She slammed her fist on the wall, instantly regretting the pain that stemmed up. Aya left the starkness of her room, the wallscreen still flowing with feeds overused in the past few days.

Wandering aimlessly through the halls, she found herself in an out of the way corner, complete with plush chairs – _though they may not hold up…_ Aya tested her weight on one of the chairs carefully. Satisfied it was fine, she let it envelop her, trying to forget about, well, everything.

Falling in and out of consciousness, Aya was startled awake when an ugly poked his head around the corner. Behind him were two pretties and another ugly. The pretties glanced at Aya, and they gathered in a loose circle in the opposite corner.

"You sure she's okay?" Nao, the ugly from her dorm asked curtly, jerking his thumb at Aya.

"It's not like she won't learn about it sooner or later." The short haired girl said, her pretty face bored.

"What do the lesions mean?" The other ugly said, her apprehension clear.

_Lesions?_ Aya tested the word in her mind. _That meant cuts on something, right?_ Her short health lessons were easily forgotten, what with med-spray and all…The two pretties seemed to reflect, staring at each other. Aya knew instinctively they were pinging, deciding to drop everything at once.

"You both want to be pretty." A statement, not a question. It was every ugly's dream to become pretty. Turning sixteen meant that you would be beautiful, you'd live the party life – you'd be perfect. No longer cumbersome, and ugly. Aya listened in harder. Maybe they would indulge in a secret about becoming pretty faster then everyone else. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. To be pretty at twelve, to join her brother again…She hated the distance the operation had put in their relationship. She only ever saw him once in a while now. Aya sighed, but perked up instantly – she would know more soon.

"During the surge, they not only fix your outside, they fix the inside too." The boy was saying, accenting with his hands. "You can't get sick; you can't be hurt – at least, not easily. Everything is great. You party, and have fun."

"You get all of that," the girl continued, flicking her ebony hair between her fingers, "But they also put lesions on your brain."

"Making you a pretty-head. You can't think for yourself – it's their way to keep you under control." The boy submitted.

Aya's eyes were wide, as were the others. "But, how – they can't –" Nao spluttered, his face going red as he tried to voice his shock.

"How is that possible? How can they get away with that?" The short girl exclaimed, her face white.

"It's all very easy for them." The boy said matter-of-factly. "They're all in on it, and the only ones with the lesions are the pretties, and let's face it – they're not acting any less bubbly." He exchanged a toothy grin with the other pretty, almost as if they were sharing an inside joke, one that Aya, and the other uglies, didn't understand.

They shuffled their feet, and Aya delved into her thoughts.

Being pretty isn't what it seems? But, all she wanted – all every ugly wanted was to be pretty, to be like everyone else. She missed Hiro, the only contact she had was their pings, and even that was minimum. Once she was pretty, they could be friends again – like they were when she was a littlie, and he an ugly. When things were simple, and things called lesions didn't confuse her existence. But why were pretties telling them this? They should have them too. Putting two and two together was a little hard; she only had fragments to go on. But they must have been cured, the lesions permanently gone from their brains.

"Wait…" Nao's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You guys are pretties. How do we know you're not just spewing out dizzy-making lies?" And he was right; all this talk of lesions, cures, Cutters and Diego were very dizzy-making.

"Cure, my good ugly." The boy tapped his temple. "I'm the one who has the thoughts now."

"Or maybe you're just working with the government, trying to pin something else on us." Aya remembered that Nao and a few others had been caught – doing what, Aya couldn't remember – and had to do community tasks for a few weeks. He had all the reason to be cautious.

The boy shrugged his shoulders, looking bored again. "Believe what you want." He made to leave, but stopped, saying over his shoulder, "Just know this: In a few days Prettyville won't be the same, and the changes will confuse you. Don't get caught up in it." He gestured to the girl, who followed him silently, their enhanced reflexes allowing them to slide sinuously out of the room.

"Pretty-time is over." He said fleetingly, the words touching their ears quietly.

Over.

_**They're finally letting us out.**_ Hiro's relief was evident, and Aya easily understood the feeling. She only wished she could get out of her dorm too. She wanted to try out her new hoverboard, the one her parents had finally requisitioned one for her, and she had been trapped in the dorm, unable to test it out. Its shiny veneer gleamed in the corner, beckoning her to use it. Aya only wished she was brave enough to sneak out – just like the pretties who were spreading the word about a cure – but it was all just too nervous-making.

Back in the dorm's lounge area, more uglies were joining the pretties in telling the tale of Diego, the New System, and the cure for bubbleheadedness.

Aya watched a lean pretty say with a smirk, "We're _special_ pretties." The uglies around him stood dumbfounded, their mouths hanging open. Aya didn't blame them. Everything their world had stood for, everything _she_ had wanted – it was all changing so drastically around her. Aya couldn't imagine what the outside would be like if they weren't in confinement.

New alliances were forming, ones between uglies and pretties; uglies and uglies. They were all spreading the believed facts: Tally Youngblood and her Cutters had started the war in Diego; the New System was slowly taking effect over all the cities, with new rules and regulations – all of it concerning pretties; and life, in general would be different. Some uglies even talked about not wanting the operation, wanting to retain their own thoughts.

"Being pretty keeps you placid—" The pretty kept shooting out facts; Aya could see the uglies around him believed more and more, but she was still skeptical.

How could this all be going on? How was the government not able to control the gossip – stop the Specials war on everything that was normal? Aya frowned in frustration, tired of hearing the same things over and over again, and not knowing what to believe.

If it were true, would she still want to be pretty? Aya pondered this, her vexation at the world around her increasing. Being pretty was what she wanted, wasn't it? Even if it made her docile, she gained so much. All she was required to do was to enjoy herself – enjoy her new life – without all the problems that uglies had. Now everything was spiraling out of control. Aya threw a pillow to the ground, her eyes glistening. She refused to cry in front of everyone – _especially_ pretties – and she quickly turned her gaze to the window, half expecting to see the city in ruins, something from back in Rusty days.

_**Hey, Aya-chan.**_ Hiro's ping was customary, something she was used to. It was nice to get away from all the changes around her, to have something that was normal.

_**Oniisan, how are you doing?**_ Aya relished this change of pace her dorm lifestyle. Pinging Hiro, she was able to forget all that had gone on in the last crazy-making days.

_**There's a bash tonight!**_He replied gleefully, and Aya almost smiled.

_**That's bogus! We're still stuck here…**_She glanced around her room. The monotony of day number forever was getting to her.

_**Everyone's invited**__,_ he continued, clearing it up by saying, _**well, all the pretties.**_Hiro was apologetic, his voice soft. They continued exchanging pings, until Hiro finally pinged, _**Got to go little sis, can't be late for that bash.**_Aya dreamingly assented, until her mind rudely caught up with her mouth, and she was ripped back into the present._ 'Believe what you want. Just know this: In a few days Prettyville won't be the same, and the changes will confuse you.' _

_**Wait! Hiro! Remember when I told you about the pretties, and a cure? There are lesions now!**_ Even though Aya didn't completely believe everything, she felt she had to protect her older brother, who sometimes got in over his head.

_**Nothing to worry about Aya.**_ Hiro's last ping was confident, for a bubble-head. Aya wondered if it was the last time she would know who her brother was.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a tiny ping. Maybe it was Hiro, finally coming to his senses. Eagerly, she checked what he said, only to be disappointed.

_**Classes are rescheduled for tomorrow. Please resume your duties.**_ The note from her dorm-minder deflated her hopes, her worry for Hiro increasing.

Would he be different, with his lesions gone? Did that mean he would be a completely different Hiro – existing, but his old self gone forever? Aya paced her room apprehensively, mumbling to herself. Everything that had happened: their confinement, the news about a war and a New System, and the fact it seemed pretties like Hiro weren't worried at all; all of it had completely changed her beliefs on her life. Aya sighed, closing her eyes briefly. She decided to sleep, resting her body and mind from the changes.

She set an inner alarm, knowing the morning wouldn't come soon enough.

A soft ringing startled her awake. Rubbing her eyes, she wondered what the ping was for. She had set it the night before, for something important…but Aya couldn't remember what for. She snuggled deeper under her covers, letting the warmth lull her back to sleep. She had almost passed out when she bolted upright, suddenly remembering what it was for.

"Whoa, totally dizzy-making…" she murmured as she waited for the spots in her vision to clear. The ping was for her early morning classes – finally rescheduled after they had been canceled out of fear. Aya glanced out her window where she could just barely see the pretty side of town, where her brother was probably – no, most likely – still sleeping off the previous night's bash. She hoped he was alright; Aya tried to convince herself that nothing would have happened, the authorities would have been there. Especially since it had been the first bash since they had confined everyone indoors. Shaking off the lurking feeling that something was wrong, she put on an outfit that had been used several times during the last week, and slipped on a pair of dark grippy shoes. Sighing glumly, she wished yet again that she was a pretty – then she too could stay up all night partying and sleep during the day; no more boring classes – but she still had to wait four years. Aya didn't even know anymore if she wanted to be a pretty, there were all those rumors surrounding the operation. The idea of a lesion on her brain was not a prospect Aya was looking forward to, but at the same being a pretty was so tempting. All she had to do was have fun.

Jumping down the stairs, she eagerly looked forward to when classes where over. She would finally be able to test out her new hoverboard. Maybe Hiro would even teach her…Aya pounded down the street, reveling in the sheer sense of freedom. Passerby's stared at her warily, managing to move out of the way before she breezed past. The wind against her face was exhilarating, her worries being flushed away with the pinkness in her cheeks.

For once, Aya didn't look toward Prettyville, didn't worry about her future. She was free.

At least, she was until she was confined yet again. Aya covered her mouth with a hand, hiding the yawn threatening to erupt. Her teacher, a middle pretty, droned on and on, his small mustache twitching with every word that came out of his mouth. Aya watched the mustache – up, down, up…– and tried not to laugh. She turned away to avoid bursting out, and proceeded to staring at everything. The walls, the students, and the outside. Her friend Asuma was doodling, he aspired to be an artist. Aya briefly wondered what it was he was so avidly sketching, then turned to glance at her other two friends trapped in this box called a classroom. Anko was in the far corner, snoring softly, but Kioshi – always the teacher's pet – was covetously recording everything with his flip notebook. Aya briefly wished her parents would break down and buy one for her, then the need for a pen would be nonexistent. She gazed down at hers sadly, sitting quietly on her desk, barely used.

Soon, even staring bored her. Aya laid her head on the desk, trying with all her might to stay awake. But the tone of the teacher was just to tempting, and soon she was drifting off, random thoughts filtering through her head.

Everyone did change after the operation: becoming pretty, and being bubbly. Was that just the lesions, controlling what they did? Aya crinkled her forehead; if the lesions on your brain controlled the actions of pretties, did that mean that their true self was gone? Those _special_ pretties had said theirs were gone. Was the old self there, or did they have to completely remake their personalities, form new memories and bonds? Aya trembled, thinking of Hiro. Would he even remember her? Or would she be a complete mystery to him?

Aya thought of the rest of her friends, scheduled to turn pretty when they turned sixteen, along with her, and all other uglies. Did the government choose a personality for you? Your true self and your dreams gone forever? Aya didn't know what she wanted to be, but now it seemed really important to know – to see if it would disappear, so easily, just like the need to be pretty. Asuma's dream to be an artist, would it disappear? Would he completely forget about everything, besides being pretty?

Aya slowly put more facts together, facts that she had overlooked. Once an ugly turned pretty, they never came back to see their younger ugly friends, even though they had the option to. Pretties only cared about fashion, fitting in, and the next bash that was planned, and whether they were invited. Was that because of the lesions? Controlling people became easier when they didn't think for themselves, didn't fight back. Was that the true purpose of the pretty operation, so the government could maintain their control? Aya shuddered. And every single ugly was walking straight into that trap, even her.

Aya jolted awake, the ugly behind her prodding her back.

"And I know you've all been curious as to why you had to remain in your dorms…" The shift from boredom to interest was clear, the silence filling the room as everyone sat up straighter and leaned forward. Aya wondered if her questions would be answered, or if more government spewed lies would come forth.

"There is a guest waiting in the hall, and I want you to give her the utmost attention…" He adjusted his collar nervously, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. Words seemed to fail him then, and he went to the door, opening it and quickly moving away.

A tall, lean girl bent her way into the classroom, her form marred by cuts along her arms, a flash tattoo flickering calmly on her forehead. Aya gasped; it seemed the rumors were true.

Aya walked with a dazed look on her face. All the rumors, all the connections she had thought of…most of them were true. The girl had never told her name, only saying she was a Cutter, and a friend of Tally-wa and Shay-la. The girl's Japanese had confused Aya, it was rough, the translation from English to Japanese muddled.

_'In our city, Specials were created. Used to keep uglies controlled and pretties dumb...' _She was always careful to never give enough information to be found; continuing on to say that she was a Cutter, a special Special, one who was even more powerful than the old form.

Aya could barely wrap her mind around what they had been told. _'All the Cutters were cured of the lesions, all except Tally-wa…'_ The New System had started in Diego, and now everyone, even uglies, were free to do what they chose. Insane surges…anything. Aya had flinched when she had told them about some of the surges happening: snake fingers, medusa hair, even colored skin. The thought of those drastic surges happening in her city scared Aya. How could the differences between Pretties and Uglies be crossed so easily? _'Now we're living in Diego, some leaving to help other cities and Tally-wa… she's helping to spread the cure.'_

Aya had so many questions she wanted to ask, but her mouth couldn't form the words. The Cutter had looked directly at her saying, _'Divisions between pretties, uglies, and crumblies are gone.'_

Aya sped toward the Pretty side of town, not planning to go into it. Hiro was meeting her in Lotus Park. She had been surprised when he had pinged her, suggesting to go hoverboarding, volunteering to teach her. Aya hadn't heard from Hiro since the day the Cutter had talked to her class, and that was weeks ago. Aya had nervously stayed around the dorm, not straying far for fear of meeting someone…different. The rumors of weird surges had quickly spread, and most uglies her age had parents, like hers, who refused to allow them to have any surges, until the craze died down. They still believed in the operation age.

Hiro was already waiting for her, his hoverboard under his arm.

"Aya-chan!" He called, waving to her. She breathlessly stopped when she had joined him, a little out of breath from carrying a hoverboard and running.

"Hiro, are you really going to teach me to hoverboard?" She asked suspiciously. After not hearing from him for weeks, he all of a sudden felt the urge to be a big brother?

"Umm…actually…" He rubbed his neck awkwardly, looking down at the ground.

Aya watched him, suddenly understanding why he had broken their contact so abruptly. "You've been cured, haven't you?" He glanced up sharply, meeting her calm gaze.

"Do you know everything?"

"Pretty much." She answered smugly. Now she would now if the cure truly changed you.

"It was at that bash. Everything was totally amazing…the biggest bash I've seen in a while." Hiro reminisced, and Aya hid her smile. Maybe Hiro hadn't really changed that much…he always did love bashes.

"Everything…everyone was having the best time…the lights were blind-making…" Most of Hiro's sentences were fragments, which troubled Aya. She wished he would just get on with it.

"I don't remember all of it, but I do remember being pricked with something, which made me really angry. It wasn't very bubbly. Over the next few days I felt funny, and now, everything is much clearer. I feel like a veil has been lifted from my eyes. I've heard that it was just the lesions disappearing."

Aya sighed dramatically. She had hoped his explanation would have been more interesting, and more dramatic. Instead, it was anticlimactic.

"Are you going to teach me how to hoverboard now?" She asked, punching his arm.

"Hey! Aren't you just a little bit interested in what I just said?" He asked, mock indignation filling his features.

"I already knew all that!" She said playfully, darting out of his reach. "But where were you after? Why didn't you ping or come visit?" She stopped waiting for the next explanation. Hiro turned red and he tried to hide his face by turning around. "Oh, sick-making! You didn't surge, did you?" Aya gagged, not wanting to know what her brother had looked like.

"Well from that reaction, I'm glad I didn't come to see you when I was a surge-monkey." Aya grimaced again.

"I'm glad you didn't too. That wouldn't have been very pleasant." Aya hooked on her crash bracelets, ready for anything. "Can you just teach me now?"

"Sure, sure…"

After falling off the board several times, Aya decided she had enough bruises and hurt for the day. Hiro continued to swoop by, ruffling the grass surrounding her. Finally he landed, cheeks flushed from the wind. A small round thing was following him, and Aya glanced at it curiously.

Hiro saw her looking at it and asked, "Haven't any officials come to your dorm yet, to explain having your own feed?" Aya started to shake her head, but remembered that maybe there had been a few visits.

"Maybe I wasn't paying attention." She admitted sheepishly.  
Hiro groaned, and flopped onto the grass next to her. "Every citizen will get one, even the littlest littlie. It's part of the new merit system."

Aya listened patiently as Hiro explained how the new system in their city was going to work. Asking for what you wanted didn't work anymore, that was how Prettytime worked. Now wanting something required merits, and those you had to earn. The more famous you were, the more you had to spend. That was the purpose of Hiro's little hovercam, to record things for his feed. It was all very confusing to Aya; the only comforting thought was that she would soon have her own – along with an eyescreen Hiro said their parents were thinking of letting her get. They continued to talk quietly as dusk approached.

"Look over there!" A male voice yelled, his voice slurred by champagne. Aya glanced up warily, her eyes scanning for the disturbance.

"A pretty and an ugly!" Another screeched, swerving slightly.

Aya stared at them in horror. One had the snake finger she had heard about; his features distorted by high cheekbones and pointed ears. A surge-monkey in the flesh. His friend wasn't much better, his eyes large and innocent – manga eyes – like the ones in the manga she'd been reading – a recent discovery.

Aya noticed Hiro's hovercam discreetly recording the scene unfolding.

"Why don't you bubble-heads go away?" Hiro suggested moving protectively in front of Aya.

"We're bubble-heads? Sorry, pretty-kun, we're not." Aya bristled with anger, and she felt Hiro stiffen next to her. How dare they call him –_kun_! They were no friends of Hiro's.

"And don't forget ugly-chan there," the manga-head said, his eyes glassy.

"Just because you think the mind-rain has cleared up all the divisions doesn't mean they're not there. It doesn't mean that ugly-chan can hang out with you, pretty-kun." The two chortled and walked off tipsily into the night.

"Did you get all that?" Hiro quietly asked his hovercam. To Aya he said, "I'll bring you back."

At the dorm, Aya finally asked the question that had been burning in her mind. "Why did you record that?"

"You'll see little sister…" He ruffled her hair affectionately. "Be sure to watch the feeds."

And watch the feeds is what Aya did. Someone named Nana Love was rising up in the face ranks, with her stories about fashion and bashes. Aya thought it was all very boring, and focused more on the feeds about what was happening in the city around her. Watching those feeds, she finally discovered why her brother had been recording the altercation those nights before.

"Are the differences truly gone?" The footage flashed by on the screen as his voice continued. "New differences are arising, some causing more trouble than ever before. Because it's not just the uglies causing them, the pretties are too." The recording of a pixel-skin hitting a pretty was pulled up. "With all the problems the Mind-Rain has caused, wouldn't it just be better to go back to blissful ignorance?"

_**That's really great Hiro**_**.** Aya pinged him and received a reply shortly.

_**I didn't know where to fit in…and now I think I do.**_ Aya agreed. His story was so well put together; she knew others would begin to question what the Mind-Rain really meant. Being pretty wasn't what it seemed, but neither was what you could be now.

_**Oh Hiro?**__**Can you check my face-rank?**_

_**901,873**_

So this is what being pretty would have meant. She would have still been invisible, just like any ugly. Aya shut off her wallscreen, vowing not to be invisible her whole life. Soon, she would show stories, ones that were better than Nana Love's, ones even better than Hiro's.

She refused to be a face-missing extra her whole life. Her aspiration was to no longer be pretty. She just wanted her existence known.


End file.
